


It's what brothers are for

by TripCreates



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Adopted Sibling Relationship, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Music, Angst, Brotherly Bonding, Classical Music, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Musician Victor Nikiforov, Musician Yuri Plisetsky, Past Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-07
Updated: 2016-12-07
Packaged: 2018-09-07 04:35:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8783362
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TripCreates/pseuds/TripCreates
Summary: After the loss of his grandpa, Yuri is adopted by the Nikiforov family. Despite the warm welcome, it takes some time for him to warm up to his new brother. Yuri will learn that music might be the way.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Here's my last fill for the [YOI Kink Meme](http://yoikinkmeme.tumblr.com/) Fill Party! I was going to do more but then I got sick and barely had the energy to finish this one. But since I loved this one so much I had to finish it. 
> 
> Based on [this prompt](http://yoikinkmeme.tumblr.com/post/153524404024/yuri-viktor-yuri-is-actually-viktors-adopted).
> 
> All of the music played will be linked in the story as well as at the end in the notes. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy this! Any comments or kudos will be appreciated.

Yuri laid in bed, curled up on his side. It was another day where he didn’t want to get out of bed. He’d only been living there for six months but it still didn’t feel like home, no matter how hard his adoptive parents tried. Sure, it beat living in the orphanage. A year of that was enough but it could not replace what he lost.

He missed his grandpa.

As he laid there, thinking of him, the [melodic sounds](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hN4IlK2BQhc) of the harp crept into Yuri’s room. Viktor was practicing again. Ever since he returned home for his break from the St. Petersburg Conservatory, he’d spend most of his afternoons practicing. Yuri just ignored him but the new piece he was playing today caught his attention. Yuri was used to hearing Viktor playing light and cheerful songs but this was opposite. It was more somber. Yuri wasn’t familiar with the piece but he found it soothing nonetheless.

After listening for a few moments, Yuri sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. He quietly stepped out of his room and made his way down the hallway. When he reached the stairs, he leaned over the railing and debated if he should venture downstairs.

While Yuri was welcome to go into the music room and had been invited several times by Viktor to listen to him play, Yuri refused once he saw the piano. He avoided the room at all costs after that. But now, he couldn’t stop himself from descending the stairs.

The music grew louder as he neared the room, seeing that the door was cracked. He didn’t want to alert Viktor to his presence and interrupt his practice, so he quietly sat down on the floor. He leaned back against the wall and brought his knees up to his chest, wrapping his arms around his legs. He rested his chin on top of knees and closed his eyes as he listened.

As the music continued on, Yuri lost track of how long he was there. Viktor moved on to other pieces throughout his practice but Yuri didn’t mind. For once, the ache he felt in his chest since he lost his grandpa was gone.

When the music stopped, Yuri thought he was just switching pieces again and didn’t bother to move. As he heard Viktor move around in the room, it took him a moment to realize he was done practice. Not wanting to get caught, Yuri scrambled to his feet and darted back up to his room. In his haste, he slammed the bedroom door a little too hard. Viktor would undoubtedly hear that.

Yuri leaned his back against the door, his heart pounding as he heard footsteps approaching his room.

The footsteps stopped at his door and Yuri was sure Viktor was going to ask him why he had been listening. Yuri didn’t have an answer for that.

To his relief, Viktor turned away without knocking.

 

When Viktor practiced the following day, Yuri stayed in his room, not wanting to take the chance of getting caught again. The day after that, Yuri couldn’t stay away any longer and found himself sitting outside of the music room again.

Yuri never paid that much attention to the harp before, his sole focus being the piano, but now he was drawn to it. Something about this particular piece Viktor was working on spoke to Yuri in a way he couldn’t describe it.

As before, Yuri was quick to leave before Viktor exited the room expect this time, he was much quieter. Viktor didn’t follow him back to his room either so Yuri assumed he didn’t notice.

Yuri continued listening to Viktor practice every day over the following week. He never said anything to Viktor about it and Viktor never asked. Yuri was happy to keep it that way. There was no way he was going to admit that hearing Viktor play helped calm him; especially to his face.

 

Another week passed by.

One day, Viktor wasn’t home for his usual practice time. Yuri vaguely remembered him saying he was going out for the day at breakfast but Yuri didn’t care enough to know and stopped listening. But as the afternoon passed by silently, Yuri began to miss Viktor and his playing. That was a surprise.

Viktor was an interesting person to say the least. Yuri didn’t trust how warm and welcoming he had been when he first moved into the house. Yuri was fourteen at the time, while Viktor was seventeen, and he wasn’t sure how the other boy would react to his parents adopting a kid. It certainly wasn’t that.

For weeks, Viktor tried talking to Yuri and to get him out of his room but Yuri always refused. Eventually, Viktor stopped trying and left him alone. It wasn’t long after that when Viktor left for school, leaving Yuri alone to himself again. He didn’t mind it so much.

But now, Yuri was standing in front of the door to the music room, hand hovering over the doorknob. Without realizing it, Viktor had made Yuri miss playing. He came to enjoy hearing the music being played every day and even Viktor’s company too.

Yuri slowly turned the knob and opened the door. He stepped into the room and flicked on the lights. Viktor’s harp caught his attention first since it was straight ahead of him. It was a beautiful instrument, gold in color with its intricate design. It suited Viktor. Yuri soon turned his attention away from it to the grand piano on the left.

He left the door open as he crossed the room. The piano was very nice, much nicer than the one he used to play on. (He was still getting used to living with such a rich family.) But this wasn’t his grandpa’s piano. He didn’t care how shabby it looked, nothing could ever replace it.

Yuri pulled out the bench and sank down onto it. He carefully lifted the key cover before dropping his hands into his lap. He sat there for the longest time, staring down at the black and white keys. He didn’t know what to play. It had been over a year and a half since he last touched a piano and he wondered if he still remembered how to play anything.

Yuri closed his eyes and imagined his grandpa sitting next to him on the bench like he always did when he practiced. He was the reason Yuri began learning in the first place and now seemed like the perfect reason to start again. He knew his grandpa would be disappointed if he gave up playing.

Yuri opened his eyes and lifted his hands up to the keys and began playing.

[The low bass chords](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXQCPAR0EHo) filled the room, reverberating off the walls, and echoing the ache inside of him. He didn’t know why he chose this song by Rachmaninov but it was the first thing that came to mind. Probably because it was his grandpa’s favorite composer.

As he went into the runs, his fingers fumbled a bit and hit a few wrong notes, losing himself in his emotions, but he pushed on to let out all his built up anger and pain. He was only playing for himself so it didn’t matter if he made any mistakes. It’s not like anyone else was around to hear him.

The piece slowed down into a simple chord progression as before when tears began to blur his vision. Yuri was barley able to see the keys but he continued on. This was the first time Yuri had cried since the funeral. He hadn’t realized how much he’d still been holding everything in.

As the last chord rang out in the room, Yuri closed his eyes. He remained still at the piano, hands on the keys as the notes faded out.

Just as the room went silent, it was filled with applause.

Yuri’s eyes snapped open and he pulled his hands away from the keys as if he’d been burned. He whipped his head around to see Viktor leaning against the doorframe, still wearing his coat and scarf, and smiling at him.

“I didn’t realize you could play and so well,” he said, entering the room.

Yuri turned away, wiping away his tears. “You never asked.” His usual biting tone gone, still too wrapped up in his current emotions to get mad.

“Well, I did invite you in here before but you never mentioned you played after seeing the piano. I figured maybe classical music wasn’t your style. That was until you started listening in on my practices.”

Shit. Yuri was hoping he hadn’t noticed.

“Don’t be embarrassed. It was nice to finally get you out of your room,” he said, stopped next to the piano. “Why haven’t I heard you play before?”

Yuri glanced up at him and shrugged. “I haven’t felt like playing since…” He trailed off, the answer obvious. Even after all this time he still couldn’t bring himself to say it out loud.

Viktor nodded in understanding, saving Yuri from having to say it. “Mind if I play with you? I admit I’m a bit rusty on the piano but hopefully you won’t hold that against me.”

Yuri’s eyes widened before he quickly dropped his gaze. “Sure, whatever. It’s your house,” he replied, scooting over to the right to give Viktor space to sit.

“It’s your house too, Yuri. My family can’t replace what you lost, nor should we, but I hope you can see this as home, too, someday,” Viktor said.

Yuri blinked back tears that threatened to fall again. He was not going to let Viktor and his sappy lines make him cry again.

Before he could make a snippy comment, Viktor asked, “What shall we play first?”

 

**~3 Years Later~**

 

The concert hall was quiet as Yuri and Viktor took the stage. There was a short applause as they took their seats at their instruments.

Yuri kept his eyes ahead of him on Viktor. He did _not_ get stage freight, but this was his first public performance since he was twelve so he was a bit nervous. He was glad his first performance at the St. Petersburg Conservatory was with Viktor. That made it easier.

If it hadn’t been for that day Viktor found him playing and encouraged him to continue, he probably wouldn’t be sitting here right now.

As Viktor settled into his seat, Yuri closed his eyes. _For you, Grandpa._

Yuri opened his eyes and met Viktor’s gaze, who was waiting for him. Yuri brought his hands up to the keys and nodded. With that, Viktor began playing.

 

The crowd roared with applause and gave them a standing ovation as Viktor and Yuri took their final bow. It continued even after they exited the stage.

Mila smiled at them as they approached. “You two were incredible. How am I supposed to follow that?”

“You’ll be fine,” Yuri replied. “The crowd will love you, too.”

Mila smiled as she reached out to ruffle his hair but Yuri was quick to duck.

“Hey, don’t mess up my hair!” he said, causing Mila and Viktor to laugh. He’d worked hard on braiding his hair and he wasn’t about to let her mess it up with one more performance to go later that night.

“Mila! You’re up,” Yakov said, approaching them.

Mila nodded and straightened up, her face going neutral as she walked on stage with her violin in hand.

Yakov then turned his attention back to Yuri and Viktor. He crossed his arms and gazed down at the younger one. “Yuri, you rushed the fourth movement again. I shouldn’t have to keep telling you this,” he said.

Yuri rolled his eyes. He respected the music director but that still didn’t mean he liked being lectured by him all the time.

“We’ll work on it,” Viktor said, smiling. “Although, the audience enjoyed the performance regardless if he rushed or not.”

Yakov glanced at Viktor, raising an eyebrow. “I’m surprised to hear that coming from you, the perfectionist.”

As the two of them began discussing the performance, Yuri stepped away in need of some fresh air. He felt bad to miss Mila’s performance but he practically knew it by heart after listening to her practice the piece. She would understand.

Yuri slipped out the back door, stepping outside. The cold air hit him instantly but he wasn’t going to go back inside for his coat. He would be fine for just a few minutes. He sucked in a deep breath and exhaled, already starting to feel calmer. He leaned his arms against the railing and gazed up at the sky.

The door opened a few minutes later.

“Yuri, there you are. I was looking all over for you,” Viktor said, stopping beside him.

“I just needed to be alone,” he replied, keeping his gaze upwards.

“Oh, well, I’ll wait for you inside then.”

As Viktor turned back to the door, Yuri called out, “Wait.”

Viktor stopped and glanced back at him over his shoulder.

“You can stay. I don’t mind you being out here with me,” Yuri said, meeting his gaze.

Viktor nodded. “Alright.” He returned to the spot next to Yuri and leaned his arms against the railing.

They stood there in silence for a couple of minutes before Yuri spoke.

“I wish he was here for this,” he said, quietly. “To see me perform in a place like this.”

Viktor wrapped his arm around Yuri’s shoulders. “He would have been very proud of you because that’s how I feel right now.”

Yuri looked up at Viktor. “You are?”

He wasn’t used to hearing this from Viktor, who was just as critical as Yakov. Yuri expected Viktor to be critiquing the performance right now, not praising him.

“I am. You’re too hard on yourself sometimes. Don’t let that ruin your love of playing.”

Yuri wrapped his arms around Viktor. “Thank you, for everything.”

“It’s what brothers are for,” Viktor said, patting Yuri on the shoulder. “We should get you back inside. It’s too cold to be out here.”

Yuri pulled away from Viktor and followed him back inside.

Brothers. That’s what they were. It may have taken a while for Yuri to see Viktor that way but he was glad to call him that.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> [Viktor's piece](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hN4IlK2BQhc) | [Yuri's Piece](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXQCPAR0EHo) | Viktor and Yuri's duet Part [1](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OnauhLUJ-0), [2](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_aNflAyofY), [3](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPuXH2RmGmY), [4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hKs8zw24kU)


End file.
